How Genes Influence Behavior Review

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(More customer reviews)One would expect an introductory textbook by these three scientists to be good, and it is. It covers behavioural and molecular methods, using examples from the authors' own work in psychiatric genetics. The field is put in historical context, with the false turnings explored, as well as the major breakthroughs. The authors take us on a journey through family, adoption and twin studies, on to the history of molecular psychiatric genetics, starting with the early, and usually unreplicated, linkage studies, through genome wide association studies and animal models using rodents and drosophila. Concepts are explained with a minimum of technical and statistical detail, making the book accessible to a wide readership. What sets this book apart from others on this topic are the personal and often witty accounts of doing research. Kendler's anecdote of a family study of schizophrenia in Ireland is particularly engaging, including an encounter with an elderly grandmother who expressed indignation that he should be driving around all over the place interviewing people to find out if mental illness ran in families. "'Why everybody knows that! Take the O'Donnells for example. They are as mad as can be and it goes back generations." (p. 12). One also gets a sense of the hard graft involved in doing research in this area: Kendler estimated that his study took 18 person years just to gather the data, and evidently required persistence and a willingness to work heroically antisocial hours by the research team.
Anyone contemplating a research career in molecular genetics would do well to read the paragraph on p 34-35 debunking popular assumptions about life in the laboratory: "A combination of intelligence and technology applied to taxing but interesting biological problems leads to ground-breaking discoveries that could cure disease or change our understanding of the universe." Well, no. The work is dull, repetitive, and usually unsuccessful. And if after years of work you do find something interesting, your laboratory head will ask: "Why is this finding wrong?". In fact, I suspect only really good laboratory heads do that - the bad ones rush gleefully into print, which is why the field is littered with nonreplicable findings. But as Flint et al point out, you need to ask it because it's embarrassing to publishing something that is wrong, your peers will do their best to find flaws in the work, and, most importantly, "it's only by publishing findings that are robust to any possible criticism that we'll make any progress". A refreshingly old-fashioned take on the scientific process that is all-too-often forgotten in the current climate where we're all encouraged to publish as much as we possibly can, and where a dramatic but non-replicable result may get you two papers in a high-impact journal: one for the original finding, and the other for the failure to replicate.


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How important are genetic influences on behavior?How many genes influence an individual behavior, and how much influence does a single gene have? How do genes interact with the environment to influence the development of behavioral traits?What are the differences between humans and 'simpler' organisms when it comes to the genetic control of behavior? How Genes Influence Behavior is a unique introduction to behavioral genetics, which combines conceptual rigor with accessibility to answer questions such as these--answers that carry important implications for the nature of who we are. Offering unparalleled insights into how behavioral genetics is probed through real-world research, it considers evidence from humans and the major model organisms of mouse, fruit-fly and nematode worm to demonstrate how much of our current understanding of the genetic basis of human behavior stems from our exploration of other animals. Further, it uses these studies to connect the key themes of the book--the nature of gene action, and the inter-relationship of genetic and environmental influences on behavior-across organisms, highlighting key commonalities and differences.The book also shows the major impact that neurobiology is having on our understanding of the field, to give a true depiction of behavioral genetics in the 21st century. However, care is taken throughout not to overwhelm the reader with scientific detail. Instead, the authors make the book fun to read without sacrificing accuracy or devaluing the complexity of the subject matter: they 'personalize' the science, mixing more standard narrative with biographical details to make the subject come alive. With the media filled with talk of the discovery of genes 'for' an array of human behaviors, there has never been a more pressing need for today's students--tomorrow's researchers--to be equipped with a clear, balanced view of the field. How Genes Influence Behavior is the perfect guide for all students, delivered in the words of three researchers who have witnessed first-hand the emergence of this fascinating field, and whose own investigations have been central to our current understanding of it.Online Resource CentreFor Instructors* Figures from the book, available to downloadFor students* Hyperlinks to primary literature cited in the text

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The Cell Cycle: An Introduction Review

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(More customer reviews)Really, you need to read this book. Nowadays nobody can ignore the cell cycle since everything in biology either feeds into the cell cycle, is controlled by the cell cycle, or, in most cases, both. Because the cell cycle is so important, there has been a flood of information about its molecular components, but what this book does is take all that information and place it in context by laying out the overall computational logic of cell cycle control. So, although the book does a great job summarizing the extant data at the time of its writing (which is now a little bit out of date unfortunately), its real value is in providing the conceptual hooks onto which the data can be hung. In this regard, it is still just as effective as it was when it first came out in print, and it is still highly recommended for anyone interested in this subject.

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In the last decade there has been a revolution in our comprehension of how cells grow and divide.Results from experiments on yeast, embryos, and cultured mammalian cells have unified seemingly disparate viewpoints into a single set of principles for normal cellular reproduction in plants, animals and bacteria.Written by two leading participants in that revolution, The Cell Cycle provides the first thorough, authoritative account of the new philosophy of normal cellular reproduction and how it emerged.It is a vivid portrayal of the molecular logic of the cell: how the cell engine induces DNA replication and chromosome replication; how the integrity of genetic information is preserved; and how cell size and environmental signals regulate the cycle of growth and division.By describing important breakthroughs in their historical and experimental context, The Cell Cycle traces the development of the new vision of cell biology and shows its relevance to other areas of modern biology. It is the ideal introduction to the current understanding of cell growth and division for advanced undergraduate and graduate level cell biology courses.

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Molecular Evolution and Phylogenetics Review

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(More customer reviews)Nei and Kumar's "Molecular Evolution and Phylogenetics" is basically an updated version of Nei's 1987 "Molecular Evolutionary Genetics" book. Accordingly, attention is shifted to reviewing many recent advances in methods of phylogenetic inference with an obvious bias towards distance methods, particularly those which the senior author devised. In fairness, they give decent coverage to the more popular parsimony and likelihood methods as well. The great strength of the book is the number of real examples used to illustrate properties of the methods, and their focus on statistical methodology without miring the reader in detailed mathematics. The disappointment is that while breadth of coverage is tolerable, depth is lacking. Expanding their views on the shortcomings of likelihood in choosing tree topology and likelihood ratio-tests in choosing models of sequence evolution would have been most enlightening, particularly as these issues have been brushed lightly aside by phylo-likelihoodists. Other methods (Hadamard transformations, Bayesian phylogenetic inference) were absent altogether. Further the chapter on molecular clocks was disappointing--old 1980s controversies were rehashed, while there was nothing on methods that relax the assumption of rate constancy while still allowing divergences to be dated. Admittedly some of this is very new and research is ongoing, but there isn't even a hint of these developments in this chapter. Another plus though is the addition of a chapter on inferring ancestral states of molecular sequences.
Unlike Molecular Evolutionary Genetics, far too little of the book is devoted to methods at the population level, and what is there again smacks of state-of-the-art 15-20 years ago. I was hoping for much more coverage of microsatellite and AFLP data. There was very little for either, while now rarely-used RFLPs were given extensive coverage.
In short, this book was too short, particularly for the price, and I almost gave it 3 stars rather than 4. However, if you are a phylogeneticist, you will probably want to have this book on your shelf. A lighter introduction for the uninitiated would be Rod Page's "Molecular Evolution" or Graur and Li's "Fundamentals of Molecular Evolution". However, my hopes for a good comprehensive text and reference on phylogenetic methods now rest on publication of Joseph Felsenstein's "Inferring Phylogenies".

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During the last ten years, remarkable progress has occurred in the study of molecular evolution. Among the most important factors that are responsible for this progress are the development of new statistical methods and advances in computational technology. In particular, phylogenetic analysis of DNA or protein sequences has become a powerful tool for studying molecular evolution. Along with this developing technology, the application of the new statistical and computational methods has become more complicated and there is no comprehensive volume that treats these methods in depth. Molecular Evolution and Phylogenetics fills this gap and present various statistical methods that are easily accessible to general biologists as well as biochemists, bioinformatists and graduate students. The text covers measurement of sequence divergence, construction of phylogenetic trees, statistical tests for detection of positive Darwinian selection, inference of ancestral amino acid sequences, construction of linearized trees, and analysis of allele frequency data. Emphasis is given to practical methods of data analysis, and methods can be learned by working through numerical examples using the computer program MEGA2 that is provided.

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Epigenetics in Biology and Medicine Review

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(More customer reviews)The book gathers together papers that show the current state of knowledge of a branch of developmental biology. It is suitable for researchers in this field.
Of the topics covered, sirtuins might possibly be the best known to outsiders. These are found in resveratrol, an active ingredient of red wine. Several papers look at the role of these in aging. The exciting promise of being able to increase the replicative lifespans of cells, beyond the Hayflick limit, is mooted. Beyond this is the prospect that in turn the chronological lifespan of an entire organism might thusly be enhanced.
Overall, for sirtuins and other topics, the book shows an impressively growing understanding of mechanisms at the cellular level.

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Anomalous epigenetic patterns touch many areas of study including biomedical, scientific, and industrial. With perspectives from international experts, this resource offers an all-inclusive overview of epigenetics, which bridge DNA information and function by regulating gene expression without modifying the DNA sequence itself.
Epigenetics, in its most basic form, means heredity is not the sole determining factor in disease development. Rather, environmental and dietary factors can trigger a gene to behave in an unintended way, while the gene itself remains unchanged.
Epigenetics in Biology and Medicinediscusses cell biology and epigenetics' role in human, animal, and plant diseases, including distortions in DNA methylation. The text also covers histone modifications, and epigenomics, as well as dietary and environmental impacts on epigenetic changes.
Addresses These Important Questions:
How promising are HDACi drugs asanti-tumor agents?
Will restoring normal levels ofmiRNAs change the course of devastating diseases?
Is it possible to alter epigeneticmechanisms once they are triggered?
Is it possible to correct theabnormalities in methylation patterns that impact auto-immunities?
Represents a Landmark Publication in this Cutting-Edge Field
Dr. Manel Esteller, the editor of the volume, is a leading expert in molecular genetics of endometrial carcinoma. Under his editorial guidance, this publication goes beyond heredity to explain the crucial role of epigenetics in plants and physical and psychological diseases.
This text is applicable to a wide range of researchers, including those invested in the applications of cell biology, those involved in disease research and deciding genetic patterns, and those coalitions concerned with the impact of epigenetics and possible cures. As a result, it has the potential to launch the development of a new class of pharmaceuticals that could have the potential to drastically change the medical landscape in the near future.

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The Art of Genes: How Organisms Make Themselves Review

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(More customer reviews)I always had the feeling that evolution was the inventor of new things and development was a secondary problem of how to build an organism from information already present in the fertilised egg. Now I know what problems need to be solved in building a multicellular organism from a single cell in the first place. Enrico Coen magnificently explains how the head-tail, ventral-dorsal, left-right and inside-outside axis is build out of nearly nothing. The subtitle of the book is a perfect illustration of the task: How organisms make themselves (without help from outside). The problem looked only harder since the discovery of DNA : the information in DNA is one-dimensional, so how to build a 3-dimensional organism on the basis of that? No wonder that people in previous centuries saw miniature humans in egg or sperm. But since that 'solution' was refuted, the problem confronted us again: how do organisms make themselves? Enrico Coen gives deep insights with the help of metaphors derived from art and with the necessary scientific details and without confusing us with too many complexities. Coen explains the crucial role of genes without being a genetic reductionist. His examples are both from animals and plants, wich I find an advantage. This book is an achievement. The only criticism I have is that the main metaphor Coen uses is about colors and all the illustrations are in black-and-white! At least the hardback edition should have color illustrations!

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Over the past twenty years there has been a revolution in biology--for the first time scientists have been able to unravel the details of how organisms make themselves.The mechanisms by which a fertilized egg develops into an adult can now be grasped in a way that was unimaginable a few decades ago. The Art of Genes is the first account of these exciting new findings, and of their broader significance in how we view ourselves. Through a highly original synthesis of sciece and art, Enrico Coen vividly describes this revolution in our understanding of how plants and animals develop.Drawing on a wide range of material--from flowers growing petals instead of sex organs, and flies that develop an extra pair of wings, to works of art by Leonardo and Magritte--he explains in lively accessible prose the meaning of genes.Coen draws parallels between the way genes respond to the developing pattern of an organism and the way an artist responds to a painting being created on canvas, a memorable analogy that shows how the organism develops through an interactive dialogue in which there is no separation between plan and execution. There have been many attempts to resolve the paradox of how organisms make themselves. Lucid, authoritative, and entertaining, The Art of Genes offers fresh and exciting insights into the nature of evolution, development, and human creativity.

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The Evolution and Emergence of RNA Viruses (Oxford Series in Ecology and Evolution) Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is a tour de force introduction to the field of emerging RNA viruses by one of the world's leading experts in virus evolution. The book progresses rapidly from concise chapters on RNA virus biology, origins and microevolution to detailed discussions of RNA virus macroevolution, (contentious) quasi-species concepts, phylogeography and patterns of RNA virus emergence. Though each chapter may stand alone as a significant contribution, the succession of chapters provides a strong logical framework for understanding the observed epidemiological patterns of RNA emergence. This narrative structure culminates in a series of case studies of emerging RNA viruses that are a fitting conclusion to a book that ties together the molecular evolution of RNA viruses with their emergence and epidemiological dynamics.
In sum, any biologist interested in evolution and/or RNA viruses, from novices to experts, would benefit from and enjoy reading this claret-colored addition to the OUP catalog.

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RNA viruses provide unique insights into the patterns and processes of evolutionary change in real time. The study of viral evolution is especially topical given the growing awareness that emerging and re-emerging diseases (most of which are caused by RNA viruses) represent a major threat to public health. However, while the study of viral evolution has developed rapidly in the last 30 years, relatively little attention has been directed toward linking work on the mechanisms of viral evolution within cells or individual hosts, to the epidemiological outcomes of these processes. This novel book fills this gap by considering the patterns and processes of viral evolution across their entire range of spatial and temporal scales. The Evolution and Emergence of RNA Viruses provide a comprehensive overview of RNA virus evolution. This is the first book to link mechanisms of viral evolution to epidemiological outcomes, incorporating case studies in RNA virus emergence and evolution using topical examples such as influenza, HIV, dengue fever, and rabies. It reveals the underlying evolutionary processes by which emerging viruses cross species boundaries and spread in new hosts.

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